Apparatus for comparing color effects



Nov. 26, 1935. H. H. sHELDoN APPARATUS FOR COMPARING COLOR EFFECTS FiledApril 30, 1932 INVENTOR HAROLD H. S E/.Da/v,

will" Patented Nov. 26, 1935 UNITED STATES APPARATUS FOR COMPARING COLOREFFECTS Harold Horton Sheldon, Yonkers, N. Y., assignor to SheldonElectric Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication April 30, 1932, Serial No. 608,397

4 Claims.

The main object of my invention is to provide simple and convenientmeans to facilitate the comparison of colors under Various lightconditions.

5'1 A special object is to provide a simple form of apparatus which canconveniently be employed, for instance, in department stores for thecomparison of colors of diierent objects. I t is frequently desirable tomatch the colors of differlv` ent types of articles, for instance, shoesand hosiery. Obviously the materials of which such objects are made areof very different types and their colors are usually produced by dyes ofdifferent characters. As a result articles which 15`V appear to be ofthe same color when viewed under light of one color may actually appearquite diierent when viewed under light of another color. It is quiteobvious, therefore, that articles should be compared under differentcolored 20 lights, for instance, red, greenand blue.

I have accordingly designed a cabinet which is preferably of a portablenature suitable for use by anyone and lby means of which one mayconveniently compare the colors of various articles under diierent lightconditions, and with minimum influence of light from external sources.'

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet embodying one form of theimprovements of my 30 invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross sectional View of the same.

Fig. 3 is a front view showing the interior construction.

35 Fig. 4 is a detail View of one form of lamp.

The cabinet 5 may be formed of suitable material such as sheet metal andprovided with a chamber S for receiving articles, the colors of whichare to be compared, and separate light source chambers "l, 8 and 9preferably arranged above the article chamber and provided with colorscreens lll, H and I2 between the light chambers and the articlechamber. These screens may be formed of glass and colored, for instance,red, green and blue, respectively. Lamps I3, H3 and I 5 are demountablysupported in the respective chambers for throwing the desired colors oflight upon the article supported in the chamber 50 6. The articles areintended to be supported on the shelf or bottom i6 of the chamber whichis conveniently horizontal and therefore at an angle to the line ofsight into the Chamber 5.

rIhe screens lil, H and i 2 are preferably ar.

55 ranged so that the light from each of the lamps same material.

is directed approximately toward the center of the chamber 6.

I also preferably provide a shield Il across the lower part of thefrontA of the chamber ii to prevent light from outside shining directlyupon the 5"A articles in the chamber.

I preferably provide lamps of the so-called pre-focus type and ofhigh'power, for instance, 200 watts, capable of throwing a very brightlight upon the articles. The most suitable form vv of these lamps hasits laments I8 definitely positioned with respect to the base I9 of thelamp so that it can be mounted in a definite position with respect tothe socket 2li, and I preferably mount these sockets so that theflaments of the respective lamps will be inclined to correspond with theinclination of the respective color screens lil, Il and i2. This isshown by the relative angles of the axes of the sockets in Fig. 3 withrespect to the color screens. 20

I also preferably mount each socket upon a support 2| which is inclinedwithrespect to the wall of the cabinet as shown in Fig. 2.

On account of the substantial heat generated by lamps of highcandlepower it is desirable to line the light chambers with thermalinsulating material 22 and to provide partitions 23 of the I alsoprovide Ventilating passages 24 to permit air to enter the lightchambers and exit passages 25 at the top, protected by 30 lcuvers 26 soas to prevent light from shining toward the operator. Other Ventilatingpassages may be provided in the bottoms, tops or backs of thek lightchambers.

To facilitate inspection and replacement of the lamps the upper part 21of the front of the cabinet may be in the form of a door hinged alongits upper edge 2`and provided with fastening devices such'as thumb nuts29. The inside of this door is also provided with a layer of 40 thermalinsulation ttl. The lower edge 3| of the door extends downwardly belowthe level of the color screens so as to prevent the light from thesescreens shining outwardly from the chamber t. VThe inside of the chamberis preferably dull black and non-light-reflective.

The current for energizing the lamps is brought into the cabinet by acable 32 and distributed to the various lamp sockets and lamps under thecontrol of switches .33, 34 and 35, having operat- 50 ing nger pieces atone side of the cabinet. By means of these switches any one or two ofthe lamps may be lighted at the same time so as to provide any desiredlight upon the articles to be compared.

The light screens may be suitably mounted and are preferably detachablyheld by clamps such as 36 so that they may be replaced or changedconveniently.

I also preferably provide suitable handling devices 31 to facilitatetransportation of the cabinet.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the apparatus is compact andreadily transportable and that the lights may be changed to suit thedesired conditions of comparison. If desired, light shielding curtainsmight be provided for the front of the chamber 6 and such curtain orcurtains provided with an opening to facilitate observation undercircumstances where the entrance of external light to the chamber mightinterfere with an accurate comparison of the colors.

It is possible by the use of this apparatus to make rapid comparison ofcolors of various articles Without moving the articles and Withoutchanging lamps or color screens by simply turning on and 01T theswitches necessary for controlling the current to the respective lamps.

I claim:

1. Color matching apparatus comprising a cabinet having a lowerarticle-holding compartment, separate upper lamp compartments, inclinedlamps supported in said upper compartments, a door for access to saidlamp compartments and a color filter between each lamp and said lowercompartment, the inclination of said lamps being such that all lightemitting surfaces thereof are substantially equi-distant from the middleof said lower compartment.

2. In a color matching device a cabinet having a horizontally disposedarticle supporting shelf, a horizontal lter screen arranged in thecabinet above the center of the shelf, an inclined filter screenarranged on each side of the center screen, an electric lamp arranged inthe cabinet above each filter, said lamps being designed and arranged tothrow light through the respective lilters upon the center of the shelf.

3. Color matching apparatus comprising a cabinet having an articlereceiving compartment open at one side for the introduction of articles,three light emitting compartments arranged above the article receivingcompartment and each containing an electric lamp, all of the lamps beingof the same size and of the prefocused type,

a color screen between each lamp and the article receiving compartment,each color screen and the filament of its respective lamp being arranged10 substantially parallel, said lamps being situated substantially alongan arcuate path and said color screens being situated substantiallyalong a second arcuate path, said last mentioned path beingsubstantially concentric with said first mentioned path, so as toprovide a substantially uniformly illuminated field in said articlereceiving compartment.

4. Color matching apparatus comprising a cabinet having an articleholding compartment and separate lamp compartments, said lampcompartments being arranged laterally adjacent to one another andextending as a Whole along one side of said article holding compartmentacolor screen arranged between each lamp compartment and the articleholding compartment, the color screen of the lamp compartment which ispositioned substantially central with respect to the other lampcompartments, being substantially parallel to one side of said articleholding compartment, the screens on each side of said central screenbeing inclined with respect t0 said central screen and the direction ofinclination of one of the side screens being opposite to the directionof inclination of the other side screen but of substantially the sameangular magnitude with respect to said central screen, the said lampsall being focused so that a substantially uniformly illuminatedobservation field is obtained in the article holding compartment wheneach lamp is lighted.

HAROLD HORTON SHELDON.

